Reelable beam



Fglled July 19, 1966 June17,1969 A,AF..A am 3,450,186

REELABLE BEAM I 1' lNvENroR ANELo CAI-"FA ET/z/A CAF/:A CARLA Cfm ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,450,186 REELABLE BEAM Angelo Catia, Letizia Caffa, and Carla Catia, all of 12, Corso Matteotti, Alba, Cuneo, Italy Filed July 19, 1966, Ser. No. 566,384 Claims priority, application Italy, July 28, 1965,

Int. Cl. A47h 1/00; A47g 5 /02; E04b 1/346 U.S. Cl. 160-241 6 Claims -ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention concerns a reelable beam of controlled variable length, made up of articulated elements in two parallel series, the elements of the upper series being inter-linked with those of the lower series on an assembly head in the manner of a zip fastener in which the slider is in fact at rest, being the said support, while the toothing, instead of being at rest, is movable.

The beam is made up of and can be disassembled into two elastic foldable parts capable of being rolled up to a minimum size. The individual elements of each foldable part can be locked together and unlocked, and the upper series of elements is provided with a foldable cover which may be formed of a sheet of flexible material, of slats, or of links like a roll-down shutter or blind. Several reelable beams may be combined to form carrying structures which are secured to the foldable cover to form adjustable roofs for greenhouses, skylights, portable shelters, porches and produce reinforced shutters, hatches, half-beams for closing or supporting nets, and the like.

The accompanying drawings show, by way of a nonlimiting example, a preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to a greenhouse.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show, in transverse section and as seen from above, an assembly head with a part of a reelable beam according to the invention, on a reduced scale.

FIG. 3 is a partial section, in full scale, taken along the line A-A f FIG. l.

FIG. 4 is a partial section, in full scale, taken along the line B--B of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is also a partial section, in full scale, of the elements, taken along the line C-C of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 shows a reelable beam according to the invention, drawn schematically at the points of juncture of the various elements for the purpose of providing a better understanding thereof.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of the system of closure of the various elements.

FIG. 8 shows schematically, partially in section and in perspective, a greenhouse with two swingable roof leaves shown in the lowered position and in which a indicates embedded tubular uprights, b telescopically extending uprights, while c indicates a horizontal tubular section iron carried by the uprights b and carrying the half-beams.

FIG. 9 shows, schematically, two compartments of a greenhouse, each made up of four standard parts which are linked to each other and attached to five uprights, the reelable beams being located in the positions indicated in dash lines. A compartment D is shown with the cover unfolded at the working heights and at a different inclination, while another compartment E, like the former, is shown with the cover rolled up. The greenhouse is composed of a number of equal parts each provfided with an assemby head as will be described hereina ter.

Referring to FIG. 1, an assembly head generally indicated by 1 is attached to a horizontal tube 2 and adapted to be shifted vertically and locked by means of a threaded stop pin 3. Mounted in the assembly head 1 are two gears 4 which engage in equidistant notches in a flexible metal strip 5 which works in the manner of a rack, said gears being actuated by an intermediate gear Wheel 6 which is splined to and driven by a shaft 7. The length of the shaft 7 corresponds to that of the greenhouse compartment to be covered so that the transmission of the move-ment to the series of gears can be effected simultaneously for the entire compartment.

The reelable beam itself is made up of two juxtaposed half-beams, each of which is composed of a series of U-shaped elements, indicated by 8 (lower elements and 8 (upper elements) respectively, which carry teeth 9 mutually engaging in recesses or slots near the ends of the opposite faces of the upper and lower elements So that a projecting rigid self-supporting beam is formed. Rollers 10 and extensions 10' are provided to guide the elements during their movement, while a feeder 11, in the form of a cam lever with its fulcrum at 12, is provided for the purpose of facilitating the sliding of the lower half-beam and two guides 13, 13' force the slidable elements 8, 8 to rotate sufiiciently to allow the continuous engagement and disengagement of the points of juncture or teeth 9. The upper limit of the assembly head does not extend beyond the external profile of the beam neither in its assembled nor disassembled condition so that it does not project from the roof of the greenhouse.

The two half-beams composed of the elements 8, 8' are obtained by welding them toflexible strips 5, 5. The whole assembly works like a flexible truss beam `with juncture points or knots (FIG. 5), distributed as indicated schematically in FIG. 6 by two circles.

The ends of each half-beam making up the reelable beam are joined by a C iron 14. The elements of the upper half-beam Will be pasted on a sheet of transparent resin 15 and Will be clamped at the end thereof by means of a section iron 16.

By rotating the shaft 7 and thereby the gears 4 the reelable beam may be shortened or extended to cover or uncover the greenhouse. By rolling up the chain of opposed elements that form the beam the latter iS undone or disconnected so that the upper elements, including the sheet of resin, roll in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. l, while the elements of the lower series fall vertically and thus take up a position in which they occupy the minimum space.

It is clear that the same result can be achieved by the use of other suitable forms of articulated constructional systems, for example using hinges between the individual elements of each series, as shown in FIG. 7. Also different types of material or other forms of coupling or junction of the individual elements may be used according to the various practical applications and needs which will vary according to the variations in the dimensions of the beam and the purpose for which it is used.

In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, means is provided for adjusting the assembly head vertically by vertically shifting the post by which it is supported. Thus, in FIGURE 8, the post b is provided with a plurality of through holes d. A pin (not shown) may be passed through a hole (not shown) n the tubular post a and into a selected one of the holes d, in order to adjust the height of the assembly head to the desired level. In addition, as shown in FIGURE 1, the entire assembly head may be rotated about a horizontal axis to a desired position. Thus, the assembly head 1 is attached to the horizontal tube 2 which is adapted to be turned to the desired position and locked by means of the threaded stop pin 3 as previously described.

The adaptability of the assembly and the ease with which it can be taken apart allow it to be used in series on large areas of land by providing it with tubular upright supports which are placed at convenient equal distances from each other and, being easily visible, do not cause a hinderance to machines working on the land.

What we claim is:

1. A reelable beam of adjustable length comprising:

two series of individual elements each having a longitudinal, hollow, U-shaped cross-sectional form;

each said element including two outwardly projecting teeth on a wall of said element substantially midway between the ends thereof, said teeth being sightly spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of said element and being slightly curved away from each other;

each said element further dening a slot at each end thereof, the adjacent pair of slots of adjoining elements in either of said series being adapted to receive the two projecting teeth of an element in the other of said series of elements;

a supporting strip for each series of elements each secured at an end to the free end of said beam and supporting thereon the elements of the respective series in juxtaposed, end-to-end relationship;

said strips being adapted to bring together the meeting elements of said series as said beam is extended outwardly with the respective series being so staggered in longitudinal relationship that said teeth of any one element directly oppose the juxtaposed slots of a pair of elements of the opposite series;

the two series of elements being adapted to pass through an assembly head mounted on a post;

gear means including at least one gear Wheel mounted on the assembly head for advancing and retracting the two series of elements, said gear wheel having teeth which engage in equi-distant notches provided in one of the strips to thereby move said strips and rmly lock the individual elements of the two series together and thus form a rigid self-supporting beam.

2. A reelable beam is claimed in claim 1 wherein the gear means includes two gear wheels engaging in the strip of flexible material and driven by an intermediate gear wheel movable by a shaft to which the intermediate gear wheel is splined, all the wheels being accommodated in a housing actuated to the assembly head.

3. A reelable beam as claimed in claim 1, wherein the 4 gear means is accommodated in a housing attached to the assembly head and the housing is provided with guide means for the two series of individual elements to ensure their smooth movement relative to each other and the positive interlocking of the respective opposed elements, said guide means comprising a curved rail for each of said series of elements adjacent the mouth of the assembly head to guide the elements from opposed directions to a direction in which the individual opposed elements are parallel, rollers engaging projections on the elements of one series and extensions on the housing opposite the rollers for cooperation therewith and for engagement with projections on the elements of the other series, and a swingable lever on the housing adjacent the gear means for guiding said one series of elements over said gear means and in relation to the other series of elements.

4. A reelable beam as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cover is attached to the upper series of elements so as to form a carrying structure which is of one piece with said cover which can 4be extended and withdrawn mechanically.

5. A reelable beam as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elements at the free end of the beam are joined by a channel-sectioned member and the elements of the upper series of the beam are afxed to a transparent resin sheet secured at the end of the upper series of elements opposite the free end of the beam by means of a section iron.

6. A reelable beam as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height of the assembly head is adjustable by vertically shifting the post supporting it within another tubular post and the assembly head can be xed at the desired height by passing a pin through aligned holes in said posts and the assembly head is mounted on a horizontal tubular section support which permits its vertical orientation and thereby the orientation of the beam to be adjusted about the axis of said tubular section support and to be locked in the desired position by means of a stop pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,834,900 12/1931 Holmes 52-108 X 3,016,988 1/1962 Browning 52-108 X 3,213,573 10/1965 Bohr et al. 52-108 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,136,948 1/1957 France.

429,609 5/ 1926 Germany.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

P. C. FAW, JR., Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

